2018 Women in Blockchain Summit at UC-Irvine

We were live from the 2018 Women in Blockchain Conference at University of California-Irvine — a full day of panels with Rahilla Zafar (Consensys), Alex Tinsman (NEM), Priyanka Sold (Coinbase) and more! You can follow the entire conference on our Twitter or see the highlights here:

We’re at UC Irvine, getting ready for the start of the #WomeninBlockchain Conference #BlockchainBeach pic.twitter.com/8CNuPbwX0e

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Getting started, Heidi Pease, Los Angeles Blockchain Lab, welcomes the crowd and gives the basics of Blockchain. The attendees are here mainly to learn:

The LA Blockchain Lab is working to bring California universities together around Blockchain (including @UCLA_Blockchain). @heidi_pease kicks off today’s #WomeninBlockchain conference with the #Blockchain basics — 1% of today’s attendees consider themselves to be “experts” pic.twitter.com/WokFDjupkD

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Next, Rahilla Zafar, Managing Director of ConsenSys, discusses her time in the Middle East and dispels some misconceptions about Women in that region:

Did you know that @ConsenSys has a major operation in Dubai?

“With IBM, Consensys is the official Blockchain partner in Dubai. Those efforts are being lead by the Dubai government by a woman, Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr.” – @Rahilla Zafar #WomeninBlockchain pic.twitter.com/HJSMy3VC89

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Like many others, she got into Blockchain for noble reasons:

“I got into #Blockchain to create an easier way for people to have identities and make/receive micro payments and loans” – @rahilla @ConsenSys #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

And did you know about women in Saudi Arabia?

“I took @ethereumJoseph to Saudi Arabia. The head of innovation there is a woman and 30% of developers are women” – @rahilla @ConsenSys #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

The following panel features women from Social Impact, Finance, Tech, and Cybersecurity in Blockchain and similar projects:

Now: Social Impact, Finance, Tech, and Cybersecurity with Liz Steininger @liz315, Nicole Follouris @elitedevgroup, Juliet Annerino @JulietAnnerino, Elvina Kamalova @elvinakazan, and moderator @heidi_pease #WomeninBlockchain @blockchainuci pic.twitter.com/W3Iri3g7Nz

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Real Estate may see some the biggest changes via Blockchain Technology:

Every industry can use #Blockchain, but none more than Real Estate… especially in underwriting” – @elitedevgroup #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Security is good, but we have work to do to secure personal data, especially under the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

“(It’s nice to see) more and more people are working in “Security by Design” to protect projects from hacks… I would not recommend putting personal data on a Blockchain now, but with GDPR in Europe, it may open the conversation a bit more.” – @liz315 #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Last panel before the break:

Last panel before the break is Alex Tinsman, Global Director of Communications for @NEMofficial. She also produces @Inside_NEM on YouTube. She got into Blockchain due to the similarities to the gaming industry she was a part of #WomeninBlockchain @blockchainuci pic.twitter.com/aemCtqAjBh

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

NEM wants to make it easy for developers to build on their platform:

“NEM uses plugins, so developers don’t need much more than six months of experience to create entire platforms” – A. Tinsman @NEMofficial #WomeninBlockchain pic.twitter.com/6Z3aIAPIzB

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

We’re back with the afternoon keynote from Susan Poole:

Afternoon Keynote on Diversity in Blockchain by @BitCoinSusan, BlockBridge Advisory:

“The Blockchain space is underserved. There are less than 10% of the people working in the space that it needs.” pic.twitter.com/KOEGjoby6y

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Want to get involved?

“If you’re serious about getting into Blockchain:

1. Get Educated – Coursera has a free Princeton course or The Academy has a development curriculum
2. Read “Blockchain Unchained, the illustrated guide”
3. Attend Meetups
4. Intern”

– @BitCoinSusan #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

And if you’re in Southern California:

"Also, UCI and UCLA have an extension course in Blockchain and USC will be offering a minor degree in Blockchain" – @heidi_pease @blockchainuci @UCLA_Blockchain #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Next up a panel on Woman Empowerment and Inclusion:

Now: Women Empowerment and Inclusion with Mila Popovich @MilaPopovich, Lauren Buchholz @LJBuchholz, Simonne Hurse @thesatisgroup, and Desiree Patno @DesireePatno @NAWRB. Moderator: Eman Safadi #WomeninBlockchain @blockchainuci pic.twitter.com/3gzxl6Rq9C

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Did you know?

“42% of all the women in the world do not have a bank account” – @DesireePatno @NAWRB #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Next is an panel on the real world applications of Blockchain in Healthcare, IOT, and Supply Chain:

Now: Applications in Healthcare, IOT, and Supply Chain with Amy Hurwitz @AmyMHz @BCG, Raghu Bala @raghurambala, Cherie Aimee @xocherieaimee @ShipChain, and moderator Eman Safadi #WomeninBlockchain @blockchainuci pic.twitter.com/qRHJvNPE5P

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

First — Healthcare:

“Blockchain will help in Healthcare. One challenge is making sure that pharmaceuticals are kept up to standards at all points in supply chain. 10% of all drugs sold worldwide ($30B) are fake or not kept to standards.” – @AmyMHz #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Second — Supply Chain:

"Most don't realize that Supply Chain logistics include transportation around the planet and all transactions that take place… Most transactions are recorded using pencil and paper… Blockchain puts data on the public ledger" – @xocherieaimee @ShipChain #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Third — Internet of Things:

"We all have digital twins (our Facebook account for example). With IoT, our physical devices now have a digital twin too. When these (twins) start talking to each other, that's when we need to add #Blockchains" – @raghurambala #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

The second to last panel of the day on Investing 101:

Next: Investment 101 with Priyanka Sood @Priyanks1125 @Coinbase, Alexandra Damsker @AlexDamsker, Joy Kongkitisupchai @AmericanFunds, Othalia Doe-Bruce, OneLedger, and Moderator @cryptoKelley Weaver #WomeninBlockchain @blockchainuci pic.twitter.com/0QFQbsnSd5

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

How does Coinbase promote safe investing?

“@coinbase wants to (promote safe investing) with educations. @brian_armstrong wrong a blog post “Please Invest Responsibly.” – @Priyanks1125 #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

The US Regulators are fighting over jurisdiction and causing problems in the process:

“7 or 8 regulatory bodies are claiming exclusive rights over digital currencies… Because these agencies won’t provide clear guidance, investors are getting into companies (via syndicates, etc) and putting themselves and the company at risk.” – @AlexDamsker #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Financial institutions are coming, but not yet:

There needs to be stability in #Blockchain platforms and integration into legacy systems before financial institutions can get involved. That integration includes technical, but also a mental shift that this is a better way of doing things" – J. Kongkitisupchai #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

The final panel of the day is a Fireside chat:

Ending @blockchainuci #WomeninBlockchain strong with Perianne Boring @PerianneDC @ChamberDigital and Jordan Kruger @JordanJKruger @bloqinc with Moderator @cryptokelley pic.twitter.com/W9bncrV2ey

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

How do you explain Blockchain and Bitcoin to people who don’t know about it?

“Don’t make things too complicated and don’t over explain. The normal consumer doesn’t need to know what SHA-256 is. Work on your elevator pitch to explain Bitcoin and Blockchain that keeps it simple.” – @JordanJKruger #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

Did you know — laws are old:

“Many of the laws that are being applied to Blockchain were made in 1933 and 1934. The government can update these laws with one swipe of a pen if we work with them.” – @PerianneDC #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 8, 2018

To learn more about the Chamber of Digital Commerce, check out their website:

“The @ChamberDigital is working to have digital currencies treated as an alternative to the US dollar, so you don’t get taxed for capital gains for making purchases. Otherwise it can never be a medium of exchange.” – @PerianneDC #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 9, 2018

Thanks again to Blockchain at UCI for a great event. We look forward to the next one!